1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand-held game apparatus and a game program, and more particularly to a hand-held game apparatus including liquid crystal display sections embodying two screens, for example, with a touch panel being provided on at least one of the screens, such that two kinds of maps are displayed on the two screens for allowing a user to enjoy a unique game play; and a game program for use therewith.
2. Description of the Background Art
The following conventional techniques are known: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H4-369027 (hereinafter “Conventional Technique 1”) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-294892 (hereinafter“Conventional Technique 2”), each disclosing a mobile information terminal employing a touch panel; Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 58-116377 (hereinafter “Conventional Technique 3”) disclosing a hand-held game apparatus incorporating two screens; Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-325963 (hereinafter “Conventional Technique 4”) disclosing a game system employing two screens; and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H6-285259 (hereinafter “Conventional Technique 5”) disclosing a controller for a video game machine employing a touch panel.
In Conventional Technique 1 and Conventional Technique 2, two (upper and lower) screens are provided, with a touch panel being provided on one of the screens for displaying an operational input screen. Conventional Technique 1 and Conventional Technique 2 may be suitable for the inputting of text or still image information. However, when it comes to applications dealing with moving pictures (e.g., a video game), there is no disclosure concerning what sort of operational input screen will be displayed and what sort of image is to be displayed in response to an operational input. Thus, from Conventional Technique 1 and Conventional Technique 2, it is not known what sort of usage is possible in the context of a video game (e.g., what sort of displayed content is provided by the software).
Conventional Technique 3 is directed to a hand-held game machine provided with two (upper and lower) screens, the upper screen displaying a stationary image of a two-storied building (showing the outer look of both the first and second floors), and the lower screen showing the inside of the first floor in a stationary manner, against which characters and falling movements of oil are displayed in segments. However, since the background images displayed on the upper and lower screens are stationary, and the moving characters and oil drops are only displayed in segments, Conventional Technique 3 is best suited to displaying images with simple and little motion, as opposed to a map (or an imaginary game world) of a large game space which would be required for popular role playing games (RPGs), simulation RPGs (SRPGs), action games, and shooting games.
Conventional Technique 4 is directed to a game system where a plurality of hand-held game machines are connected to a single video game machine. A shared map which is common to a plurality of players is displayed on a screen that is displayed by the video game machine on a household television set, while a dedicated image is displayed on the screen of a hand-held game machine of each player, the latter image being confined to a narrow field as viewed by the player. However, Conventional Technique 4 requires a single household television set and a plurality of hand-held game machines, thus resulting in a complicated and expensive system configuration. While Conventional Technique 4 is suitable for displaying a simple map image such as that of a maze puzzle game, this technique is not suitable for RPGs, SRPGs, action games because such games would generally require complex and broad maps. Moreover, the picture to be displayed on each hand-held game machine is limited to a field of view as determined by the program; that is, the user is not allowed to select the displayed area. Thus, the game operation may become monotonous, which may lead to boredom of the user.
In Conventional Technique 5, a touch panel and a liquid crystal display device are provided for a game controller, which is to be connected to a video game machine. Operable icons, such as operation switches and the like, are displayed on the liquid crystal display device of the liquid crystal controller (game controller), such that an operation signal which is input by the user touching on the touch panel causes a displayed picture on the TV screen to change. Conventional Technique 5 touches on the problem of displaying two kinds of screens, such as: displaying a game picture of an airplane from a different point of view on the TV screen, while displaying an icon such as a control stick to be operated in a cockpit thereof on the liquid crystal display screen (as shown in its FIG. 3); displaying a game picture of an entire piano on the TV screen, while displaying icons such as keys of the keyboard of the piano to be played on the liquid crystal display screen (as shown in its FIG. 4); displaying an entire map on the TV screen, while displaying an enlarged image including tanks or airplanes which are controllable by the player on the liquid crystal display screen (as shown in its FIG. 7). However, according to Conventional Technique 5, the game screen is nonetheless displayed on a single TV screen, and no specific means for solving the above problem is particularly disclosed. Moreover, the display image on the TV screen and the display image on the liquid crystal display screen both depend on the program, which means that the player cannot freely change the displayed area or change the range to be enlarged. Thus, the displayed images may become monotonous, and the user may become bored. Furthermore, since the touch panel and the liquid crystal display device are provided on the game controller, the player will have to look down to watch the operative icons or look up to gaze straight ahead at the game picture on the TV screen, and therefore is likely to feel ocular fatigue. Moreover, in order to go back and forth between the TV screen and the liquid crystal display screen which is provided on the game controller, a slight change in the viewing angle or viewing direction would not suffice. Such difficulties in looking at the displays leads to poor controllability.